5 Pointless & Awesome Things Men Need To Know Today [07.12.15]

Ever wondered why you’ve started sprouting red hairs? Need a Monday morning confidence boost for your business? Or maybe you’d just like to brush up on your computer skills. Well, you’ve come to the right place.

This week’s Pointless & Awesome Things You Need To Know has more useless, interesting conversation fillers than you can poke a stick at. You never know the next time you’ll need to whip one of these bad boys out.

#1 Why Do Non-Ginger Guys Have Ginger Beards?

It’s a modern day hipster anomaly when a non-ginger starts sprouting ginger. But why? The Sun recently reported on a blogger on Motherboard who contacted some genetics experts at Erfocentrum in Holland to find the answer.

According to scientist Petra Haak-Bloem, when someone inherits two mutated versions of the MC1R-gene (one from each parent), less pheomelanine is converted into eumelanine. The [pheomelanine] accumulates in the pigment cells and the person ends up with red hair and fair skin. Now your mates have a scientific excuse for their fiery beards.

#2 Famous Millennial Leaders You Never Knew About

‘Millennials’, a new breed of Gen Xer or person reaching young adulthood around the year 2000 with big dreams and fresh ideas to change the world’s future have been making bold strides as of late, but what you might not realise is that many famous leaders are millennials as well. Here are 3 via Inc.

Amy Poehler – born in 1971, Amy has written a book, hosted the Golden Globes and created the Smart Girls Project.

Julian Assange – born in 1971, Assange is the famous founder of WikiLeaks.

Jay Z – born in 1969, Jay is not only Mr. Beyonce but one of the most successful businessmen and musicians alive today, selling more than 100 million albums and winning 21 Grammys.

#3 Computer Shortcuts You Need To Know

You mastered CTRL + ALT + DELETE and now you’re an expert on COMMAND + C and COMMAND + V, but what about these 3 computer shortcuts that will change your life? Via ShortList.

Excel: If you’re spending a long time in Excel, use F4, which repeats the last command. Highlight a cell then highlight any other cells you need filled and repeat it by pressing F4. Hours saved.

YouTube: Navigate through a YouTube vid like a pro by pressing ‘K’ to pause and play, ‘L’ to fast forward by 10 seconds and ‘J’ to rewind by 10 seconds.

Google Image Search: If you want to find similar images on Google, make sure you’re in Chrome then hold down ‘S’ and right click the image. It’ll search Google for the image and bring back similar results.

#4 Entrepreneurs Can Take Advice From Biggie’s ’10 Crack Commandments’

Rap legend Notorious BIG left his mark on New York and the rest of the world with his iconic music before his life was tragically cut short in 1997. Before his death, Biggie released the ’10 Crack Commandments’ from his sophomore album ‘Life After Death’ which lays down the blueprint for how to succeed in the drug game. According to The Observer, the lyrics can also be taken as sound business advice for today’s up-and coming entrepreneurs. Here are some pearls of wisdom from the song.

“Rule Nombre Uno: Never Let No One Know How Much Dough You Hold” Never reveal the true scope of your business, especially when it comes to generating revenue.

“Number 2: Never Let Them Know Your Next Move” Always come up with novel ways to drive anticipation and conversation.

“Number 3: Never Trust Nobody” Always communicate and follow up via email, this helps leave a trail and maintain accountability. It’s always better to over-communicate than to under-communicate.

#5 A Navy SEAL’s Secret For Pushing Yourself Beyond Limits

No matter how strong you are, mentally or physically, everyone eventually hits a wall of pain and point when giving up seems like the natural thing to do. Entrepreneur and endurance athlete Jesse Itzler told Inc “…we have so much more in our reserve tank than we think we do”.

Itzler once met a Navy SEAL during a 100-mile race who ended up staying with him for a month and teaching him the secrets of incredible mental toughness. It all came down to the ’40 percent rule’.

“He would say that when your mind is telling you your done, you’re really only 40% done,” Itzler explains. The SEAL’s motto was ‘if it doesn’t suck, we don’t do it’. Apparently, when you hit that wall of pain, you’re really only 40% through your stores of energy and determination. Go, son.